February 07, (THEWILL) –Â With a remarkable victory in the women’s 1500m speed skating event, Ireen Wust became the only Summer or Winter Olympian in history to win an individual gold medal at five different games, setting an Olympic record of one minute and 23.58 seconds on her way to victory.
During the last pair, the 35-year-old watched nervously as Miho Takagi set the scoreboard green, but the Japanese star dropped away on the final lap, handing Wust the victory.
Wust’s heroics began in Turin in 2006 (3000m) and have since continued in Vancouver in 2010, Sochi in 2014 (3000m), Pyeongchang in 2018 (1500m), and now Beijing. She was also a member of the Dutch team pursuit squad that won gold in Sochi.
The Dutch Olympic record-holder is competing in her last games, but she can still add to her total medal haul as she is scheduled to challenge for medals in the kilo event.
Takagi, the world record holder, took silver only half a second later. The Japanese appeared to be on her way to gold until she slashed the nose of her blade into the ice in the final straight. Wust’s compatriot Antoinette de Jong won bronze.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
